water boy
Americannoun
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a person who carries a canteen or bucket of drinking water to those too occupied to fetch it, as to soldiers, laborers, or football players.
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a person who sees that livestock is supplied with water, as by filling water troughs.
Etymology
Origin of water boy
First recorded in 1630–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If it was anyone else on Sunday behaving and performing like he did Erik ten Hag would have sent them to be the water boy for the under-18s!
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2024
He drove the golf carts, acted as a water boy, and looked like he had a blast.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2023
When he was 12, Mr. Poitier quit school and became a water boy for a crew of pick-and-shovel laborers.
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2022
Mookie Betts’ prowess as a water boy in high school came in handy this past week when he was sidelined from the Dodgers because of a finger injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2020
He said the water boy had just brought news to the field hands, and it had been passed from one to the other until it reached him.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
